Siddharth Chatterjee

Siddharth Chatterjee, is the UN Resident Coordinator and the UNDP Resident Representative to Kenya. Before this role he was the UNFPA(United Nations Population Fund) Representative to Kenya.

Most of his career has been spent serving in countries affected by conflicts and natural disasters. He has seen firsthand compelling human tragedies and triumphs.

He was the Chief Diplomat at the International Federation of the Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies from 2011 to 2014. Before joining the IFRC, he had served with the United Nations in Peace Keeping, UNICEF and UNOPS since January 1997. He has lived and worked in the US, Denmark, Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan, Jordan, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan(Darfur), Indonesia, South Sudan, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

In South Sudan, he negotiated the release and demobilized 3551 child soldiers from the Sudan People's Liberation Army. This demobilization of child soldiers was attempted during an ongoing conflict in 2001.

He is a graduate in Public Policy from the Woodrow Wilson School for Public & International Affairs in Princeton University, USA.

Prior to joining the UN in January 1997, he had served in the Indian Army in a Special Forces unit. He was decorated for gallantry during active service.

He tries to keep the spotlight on things that adversely effect humanity through his editorials and opinion pieces. He writes on issues spanning polio eradication, food security, child soldiers, sexual and gender based violence, water and sanitation, public health and human development. His articles have featured in the Huffington Post, CNN, Al Jazeera, the Guardian, Forbes, Reuters, the Global Observatory as well as mainstream Indian journals like the Times of India, the Hindu and the First Post.

India, a country best known today for its rising economic might, is the worst place to be a woman. On Sunday, 25 July 2016, an Israeli woman was gang-raped in Manali, India. The incident is a gruesome...

India is currently enjoying a 'demographic dividend', which means it has a higher labour force than the population dependent on it. While this may appear a reason for blissful complacency, it must be remembered that by the latter half of the century India will have an increasingly aging population, yet the country lacks a social security net adequate for the needs of its people.

A whole two years after the shocking Delhi gang rape, why have things not changed? If even such a horrific act could not change the situation, what will it take for India to adjust its attitude towards its women?